CM developers passing on Samsung Galaxy S4 - should you?

I was tempted to get the new S4, mainly due to the big 2600mAh battery in such a thin device, and best thing is, it's replaceable, great for the camping trips I go on, bring two or three extra batteries good to go for an extended weekend in the woods with the honey

And I also hate Touchwiz, but like Samsung hardware and their AMOLED screens, especially a 1080p screen. I always run a CM based ROM on every Android phone I have owned for the last three and a half years.

Nobody at Team Hacksung (the team behind Galaxy S2, Note, S3, Note2, G Tabs... official CM ports) plans to buy it, neither develop for it. There are two variants which will be a pain to maintain, [and] the bugs we have on the S3 will probably be there on S4, too (camera), and we all know Samsung ability to release sources while staying in line with mainline. Yes Qualcomm releases sources, but Exynos sources we had were far from [working on] actual Galaxy products. I'm pretty sure the same will happen for this one.

And I am sure someone will get working aokp on it which will be great anyways.

Even so, all I would probably want is debloated TW ROMs anyways. And load nova after wards. Problem solved.

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The issue I have with that is that ROMs developed by individual devs die when these devs move on to other devices. With official CM, there is a better likelihood of support for a longer period of time.

The issue I have with that is that ROMs developed by individual devs die when these devs move on to other devices. With official CM, there is a better likelihood of support for a longer period of time.

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The best way to get support is buy a nexus then.

What other good options are there? I looked at the LG forums, the Optimus G forums are desolate.

Same with Xperia Z.
As for ZL, I doubt Sony will be kind to let the carrier locked devices be allowed to unlock boot loaders, so CM support is moot.

And with HTC, you have the famous s-on/off and harder to break restrictions.

It seems to me only Samsung is a viable choice as long as they keep the boot loader easy to unlock as they have in the past (non-Verizon ones at least). And this is a big incentive to develop for them.

Other devices have no less issues. CM team is probably not happy with cyanogen being hired by Samsung I guess.

So essentially buy a device as if it is obsolete and never expect updates? No thank you.

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If the phone is obsolete because it doesn't get Key Lime Pie, don't get it. It obviously doesn't do what you need it to do at the time. If it does what you need it to do, and does it well, it isn't obsolete.

Was hoping the S4 would be a nice phone to run a good CM11 5.0 custom ROM, not anymore.

Good luck ever seeing an AOSP ROM based off Android 5.0 KLP on the S4 now. Soon the Galaxy S4 will be on outdated old software, 4.2.2 will soon be old school, once Google unleashes Key Lime Pie this Summer.

And Cyanogen will have their brand new CM11 ROM running 5.0 KLP, but maybe not on the S4 now ?

The dev community made a huge impact in my and many other's decision to purchase the thunderbolt. Without that commitment to the device, the thunderbolt was mediocre hardware at best. I would speculate this announcement alone will impact tenths of a percent of potential users. If other dev teams make the same announcement that number could change to maybe 1 percent of the potential S4 user base. But to the root users of forums like this and the droid sites, this is a big deal.

Lets start with the simplest form of this: CyanogenMod does not pre-announce support or lack of support for devices. Ever. Even for the Nexus 4, we did not announce support until a nightly build was available. Further, any announcement regarding the dropping of device support will be communicated via this Google+ page, Twitter, Facebook, our blog, or a combination of those; it will not be something buried in a forum post.

This morning, a comment from a CM collaborator on XDA was taken to be as an absolute in regards to support of the S4. He offered the opinion of four TeamHacksung maintainers, their frustrations and lack of interest in supporting the S4. Whats seemingly lost on those reading this is that his comments as an individual do not speak for CyanogenMod as an organization.

As for the teams stance on the S4, there isnt one at this time, and most definitely wont be one before the device is sold at retail.

Kinda sucks, with HTC also being difficult on giving source code out. The AT&T One X just got S-Off last month, 10 months after release, and the international One X, still doesn't have S-Off yet. Really blows to install ROM's and kernels, with no S-Off.

I wonder how the new One phone will be ? I am betting locked down at first, and most likely no S-Off either. So that's not a phone to get if you like CM based ROM's.

Google pulled a downer move this week too. All "adaway" or "adfree" apps, that stop commercials and ads from popping everywhere on your phone, have been banned and removed from the Play Store. I have been using those type of apps for years, a must have for rooted users.

And now Samsung is so popular, they can give two *****s about the development community, 99.5% of Galaxy buyers don't know WTF a ROM is. I could see Samsung doing what HTC does, and put the pad locks on.

So we are left with Nexus devices for full development, and Sony phones now.

The only hope we have, is that the Motorola-X line of phones is a success, they will be unlocked, and developer friendly. There will be three phones in the "X" line, a low end 4" screen, with 2012 spec's, and two high end spec phones with hardware on par with the Galaxy S4 and the One, but will be running Android 5.0 KLP, and have guaranteed stock AOSP updates for 12 - 24 months. Supposedly these "X" phones will be out this Summer.

And then we have the Nexus-Five, but that's probably a long ways off still, 7 to 8 months out, might be running Android 5.1 "Liquorice" with the top specs of all phones in 2013.

So if you want a developer friendly new phone, basically this year only two options, the Motorola-X line, and Nexus-Five.

Was hoping the S4 would be a nice phone to run a good CM11 5.0 custom ROM, not anymore.

Good luck ever seeing an AOSP ROM based off Android 5.0 KLP on the S4 now. Soon the Galaxy S4 will be on outdated old software, 4.2.2 will soon be old school, once Google unleashes Key Lime Pie this Summer.

And Cyanogen will have their brand new CM11 ROM running 5.0 KLP, but maybe not on the S4 now ?

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So you believe information that the official team has not confirmed? And you also think it is set in stone?

As I showed in a post above, which other NA bound devices are better choices for cm11/aokp?

Yeah, it was kind of shocking, to hear that the CM team would not support the biggest selling Android phone of 2013 in the S4, and especially the U.S. version with the Snapdragon they prefer to develop on, why wouldn't they support that ? I am sure Samsung will release kernels and make the S4 easy to root, they are not HTC and Verizon

A phone that will have crap, to little development, will be the HTC One on Verizon, that's a bad combo right there. LOL

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